How Disney Gives Us the Magic of Confidence

On a recent visit to Avenger’s Campus, I witnessed a kind of Disney magic I had never seen before.

Now, this is really saying something. I’ve held my babies with teary eyes during fireworks, I’ve been pixie-dusted for once-in-a-lifetime moments, and I have witnessed a gentle snow falling on Main Street USA in Disneyland Paris at Christmastime. But this moment was one that will go down in the record books as one I will likely never have again, but wish was an everyday occurrence.

You see, while I was casually taking some photos and observing President Loki in action, a young teenage girl stepped forward timidly and looked on the verge of tears. She hesitantly moved toward Loki and was clearly terrified and shaking from anxiety.

It was at that moment, she looked around and suddenly blurted out, “I have no self-confidence!”

For a moment, I thought I misheard. In a place known for perfectly posed lifestyle influencers and polished perfection on every surface, surely there couldn’t be someone this real, vulnerable, and raw pouring out their true feelings before a crowd of strangers and an arrogant Loki. It was… honest.

A friend of mine who doesn’t “get” Disney remarked recently that everything is so fake and manufactured at Disney, and that’s why it doesn’t feel genuine. I thought about that for a while, about how we embrace something so fully that is, in fact, absolutely manicured to perfection. Of course, that is why some of us love Disney in itself… that it’s a controlled world to escape the uncontrollable world.

But it’s not the polished surfaces, the seemingly ever-bearing landscaping, or the idyllic views that keep us coming back.

It’s moments like the one with that anxious young woman.

Not because of what she said, though it was brave to do so.

No, it was what came next.

Our little semi-circle of adoring Loki fans one by one started shouting out “You got this!” You’re beautiful!” You’re amazing!” and everyone started clapping and cheering.

And you could see it. Her shoulders rolled back. She lifted her head. She gave us a shakey smile. And her confidence? It showed up. She stepped up to Loki and proudly took a photo. And all of us, complete strangers, cheered her on all the while.

This, my Disney friends, is why we love Disney. It’s a family, a group of people who know what it means to look up to a favorite superhero or princess with awe and want to be like them. To pull their character onto our skin for a few moments a day and decide to carry their confidence as our own.

If I can be honest with you all for a moment… my confidence has taken a hit a time or two in the past few months. Social media feels like a never-ending time-suck with everyone shouting “Notice me!” into the abyss. Sure, there are many positives about the connection we get from social media, but there is also the endless comparison trap of holding what you do know about yourself to what you don’t know about others and in that always losing (to paraphrase my friend Aaron Sutherland).

I had fallen into that trap, hard. Realizing that there will always be someone with better photos, videos, writing, knowledge, clothes, you name it… it makes me want to shout out “I have no self-confidence!” and quit altogether. With all the cacophony of everyone chasing their dream at once, it’s easy to start believing that their dreams are better dreams and yours aren’t worth pursuing.

But then I remembered Walt. He had a dream, an idea. And holding it up to everything else out there, it didn’t fit either. Many people told him that amusement parks were a stupid waste of resources. Others refused to help finance it. It would have been so easy to lose confidence and surrender.

He didn’t. And you shouldn’t, either.

While reading “The Disneyland Story” by Sam Genneway recently, I came across this passage that so clearly illustrated Walt’s confidence:

“The interior of Rainbow Caverns was pitch black. The only illumination came from carefully hidden black lights reflecting upon fluorescent materials. The room was filled with different colorful waterfalls and rivers. [Claude] Coats had come up with many special effects that had never been successfully tried before. He was working on the grand finale called Rainbow Falls, where he wanted all six primary colors falling side by side in one big wide waterfall. He thought he could make the water flow in separate troughs; when it hit the bottom, he wanted to have them as close together as he could. Working at the studio at the time as consultants to the ‘Man In Space’ segments of the Disneyland television show were mathematician Heinz Haber and German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. Haber took one look at Coat’s waterfall and said that it was statistically impossible. No matter how hard Coats could try, the splashing between the waterfalls would make the water gray within a week. Coats told Walt what the mathematician said, and the boss simply replied, ‘Well, it’s fun to do the impossible,’ and then he left.”

Even when all the evidence was stacked against him, Walt still had confidence that the impossible was possible with enough hard work and ingenuity. And with a world that keeps telling us that we are insignificant, and never enough, we have to choose to tune them out and listen to the voices of our Disney friends as they call out to us:

I can go the distance – Hercules

I’m almost there – Tiana

The very things that held you down are going to lift you up – Timothy Mouse

It will turn out all right in the end, you’ll see – Mrs. Potts

It’s not what’s outside but what’s inside that counts – Aladdin Merchant

Just keep swimming – Dory

Everything is possible, even the impossible – Mary Poppins

As I’ve said before, the stories and characters that we encounter with wide-eyed wonder at the parks are only significant because they are a reflection of what we want to see in ourselves. They give us confidence through their story, that ours might have a happily ever after too, even through adversity.

But so too do we give each other confidence as we embrace our own. We get the chance to circle around one another and shout words of encouragement when we notice someone who needs a little extra faith, trust, and pixie dust. We get to be that person who lifts another up, even in small ways, every day.

I don’t know what happened to that dear girl after that encounter with Loki. But there is no doubt in my mind that she will remember the time 50+ strangers told her that she was worthy and had value just for being herself.

Whether you’re strolling through Avengers Campus or your neighborhood street, hold your head up high knowing that confidence built a kingdom of magic and inspiration for all the world, and yours is capable of doing the same.

Have you ever had someone encourage you the way our Loki fan experienced? Tell me all about it in the comments!

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